The present invention is directed toward the field of door chimes. In particular, a door chime system that uses a high quality recorded sound to indicate the activation of a door chime button is disclosed. The invention provides the distinct advantage over the prior art of playing a CD quality recorded musical doorbell indication sound instead of an artificial sound produced by an electronic music synthesizer chip.
The invention may be incorporated into any wireless door chime. U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,214, assigned to Dimango and hereby incorporated by reference, for example, discloses a door chime having multiple detectors which transmit radio frequency (xe2x80x9cRFxe2x80x9d) signals to a common receiver upon the depression of doorbell buttons. Each detectors is associated with a specific doorbell button and includes means for allowing manual selection of a song or melody to be played by the receiver upon the receiver""s receipt of the RF signal from the detector. The system allows different audible indications to be played in response to the depression of the doorbell button associated with a particular detector. As a result, a user can program each detector, such as a front doorbell detector and a back door detector, to signal, through its RF signal, the receiver to play a distinct audible indication whenever a specific doorbell button is pressed so that a user can determine from the audible indication played by the receiver which doorbell button was pressed.
A particular shortcoming of many of the wireless door chime systems, such as the system described above, is the sound quality of the audible indication. Typical door chime systems produce a poor quality sound. Therefore, there remains a need in this art for a method of creating a high sound quality signal for use with door chime systems. There remain a more particular need for a method of storing a CD quality sound into a door chime system. There also remains a need for a door chime system capable of playing a CD quality sound.
The present invention overcomes the problems noted above and satisfies the needs in this field for a method and apparatus for recording a CD quality digital sound for use in a door chime system. In one embodiment the method of recording and storing a CD quality sound for use in a door chime system includes the steps of providing a first sound, digitizing the first sound, filtering the digitized sound signal, converting the filtered digitized sound signal into a second sound, and storing the second sound into memory in the door chime system.
The present invention also provides a door chime system that is capable of storing and playing a CD quality sound that has been recorded according to the method disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a door chime system includes a door chime detector which sends a signals whenever it detects the activation of a doorbell button; a receiver which receives the signal from the door chime detector, the receiver including circuitry which outputs data sent from said door chime detector; a code detector having an input which receives data output from the receiver, the code detector determining whether a door chime sound is to be played as a result of receiving the signal from the door chime detector, the code detector providing a command to play the high quality sound; a sound memory having an input which receives a command from said code detector and outputs a signal representing a high quality sound upon receipt of said command; and sound producing means for converting the high quality sound signals from the sound memory into an audible sound.
In another embodiment, the system includes wake-up circuitry for switching the system from a sleep state to an active state.
As will be appreciated, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments, and its several details are capable of modifications in various respect, all without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description of the preferred embodiment are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.